Quiet Winter

The Hot Stove has been cool so far this offseason. The Royals have made a couple of insignificant signings, but that's been about it.

So, to bide my time, I'm watching baseball movies. Last night, I watched that classic baseball flick starring none other than Kevin Costner.

No, not "Bull Durham." Not even "Field of Dreams."

I watched "For Love of the Game."

In this movie, Costner plays Billy Chapel, an aging pitcher who pitched his entire Hall of Fame career with the Tigers. He's pitching his last game of the season in Yankee Stadium, and faces a miriad of issues in his personal life as he pitches. His long-time on and off girlfriend Jane (Kelly Preston) is leaving for London, and the team has been sold to new owners who want to trade him.

As he pitches, we flash back to his relationship with Jane - how it started, how they grew closer, then fell apart, then back together. These thoughts and memories are presented as things that Billy is thinking of between innings. So, in the top of the innings, we get flashbacks and in the bottom of the innings we see Billy pitching, and pitching well.

Eventually, we reach the ninth. Billy suddenly decides his fate (spoiler: he decides to retire), and determines that he wants to reconcile with Jane. Then, (another spoiler) he completes a perfect game.

Here's my review in a word - bluh. The movie was awful. It dragged on and on (nearly 2 and half hours long). The flashing back and forth never let me really become connected to the characters. The baseball sequences were well done and looked authentic, but it was obvious Costner wasn't a real pitcher (couldn't they afford a pitching coach to help him at least look like he was really pitching?). Vin Sculley and Steve Lyons were the TV commentators, and their performance felt real. However, this by far, is Costner's worst ever baseball movie. Stay away from this one...